More drivers now wear seat belts

A record number of drivers in Illinois are wearing their seat belts, and, as a result, officials believe, the state is on pace to set a new safety record on its roads.

Through a study done in June, the Illinois Department of Transportation observed the seat-belt habits of about 131,000 drivers at 258 locations. IDOT found 86 percent of those drivers to be wearing their seat belts, up 10 percent from two years ago.

State officials report that 41 fewer people have lost their lives on Illinois highways during the first six months of this year compared with that same time span in 2004.

Before the law was instituted in 2003, police could not pull a driver over based solely on a violation of the seat-belt rule. At that time, seat-belt usage among drivers was at 76 percent, officials said. But that number rose to 83 percent in June 2004.